Call for Papers

Applied Clinical Informatics Special Topic Call for Papers

1) Failing Forward: Learning from Clinical Decision Support Misses
2) Reducing Technology-Related Stress and Burnout

1) Failing Forward: Learning from Clinical Decision Support Misses

Summary and Scope: Clinical decision support (CDS) is widely used to improve the quality and safety of health care delivery. However, not all CDS interventions achieve their intended outcomes, and some may even cause unintended harm. This special issue aims to solicit papers on topics related to CDS failures, defined as any CDS that does not result in the intended improvement in outcomes. The goal of the special issue is to share the insights and lessons learned from CDS failures and to encourage more evaluation and reporting of CDS outcomes, regardless of their success or failure. The call for papers is open to submissions from researchers, practitioners, implementers, and users from all over the world. CDS is defined broadly , with examples not limited to interruptive alerts but any intervention that was meant to nudge or support a clinician within their workflow in the electronic health record. The intended audience for this special issue includes CDS researchers, developers, implementers, evaluators, and users, as well as health care professionals, policy makers, and patients who are affected by CDS interventions. We expect papers to be at a level that will appeal to both academic and applied clinical informaticians, CDS researchers, and health system leaders. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
• Case studies or case series of CDS failures, with a clear description of the problem, intervention, evaluation, results, reasons for failure, and lessons learned.
• Systematic reviews or meta-analyses of CDS failures, with a synthesis of the evidence, gaps, and recommendations for future research and practice.
• Methodological or conceptual papers on how to define, measure, report, and learn from CDS failures.
• Empirical or theoretical papers on the causes, consequences, and prevention of CDS failures.
• Best practices or guidelines for CDS development, implementation, evaluation, and improvement to avoid or mitigate CDS failures.
• Challenges and opportunities of CDS evaluation and reporting in different settings, contexts, and populations.
• The future of CDS science and practice in light of CDS failures.

Submission Guidelines: Authors should prepare their manuscripts according to the “Instruction for Authors” found at https://bit.ly/48ngTfg. All papers will be peer-reviewed through the normal peer-review process. Authors must identify the special issue in their title (e.g., “Special Issue on CDS Failures: ”).

Important Dates:
Paper submission due: January 31, 2025
First notification: March 31, 2025
Revisions due: April 21, 2025
Final decision: May 30, 2025
Expected publication date: Papers will be published as they are accepted

Managing Guest Editor

Allison B. McCoy, PhD, ACHIP, FAMIA, FACMI
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
allison.b.mccoy@vumc.org

Guest Editors

Anne Fallon, MD
University of Rochester Medical Center, Golisano Children’s Hospital
anne_fallon@urmc.rochester.edu

Lauren M. Hess, MD, FAAP, ABPM-CI
Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital
lmhess@texaschildrens.org

Matthew J. Molloy, MD, MPH
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
matthew.molloy@cchmc.org

Julia K.W. Yarahuan, MD, MBI
Emory University, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
julia.yarahuan@choa.org

2) Reducing Technology-Related Stress and Burnout 

Burnout, characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced sense of personal accomplishment, is alarmingly high among healthcare workers (HCWs). The implementation of electronic health records (EHRs), while intended to streamline patient care and improve outcomes, often contributes to this burnout. The complexity, usability issues, and administrative burden associated with EHRs can lead to frustration and stress, detracting from time and energy that healthcare professionals can devote to direct patient care. Burnout jeopardizes healthcare for patients, as well as results in HCWs re-evaluating their roles and abilities to perform them. Health systems have been slow to respond to the need to adjust workloads to the capacities of HCWs to perform ever-increasingly complex roles.

With the support of an R13 award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to develop an agenda for burnout reduction research, we are pleased to issue a call for papers on the relationships between technology (EHRs, telehealth, AI, and other health information technologies) and burnout in different healthcare roles. The R13 grant, EUREKA (Extinguishing burnout through a Unified REsearch approach: Knowledge to Action) brings together scholars, thought leaders, funders, and journal editors to chart a path forward for more effective and better-supported studies to determine what works best to reduce burnout quickly.

ACI is co-sponsoring with EUREKA a call for papers on stress related to electronic and technological advancements. We are particularly interested in papers that address effective means of using technology to reduce burnout, or minimize burnout that might result from use of technology. Suggested topics for papers include policies for reducing EHR stress, improving user interface design, modification of care processes to decrease electronic inbasket-related stress, and addressing the “culture of endurance” in medicine as it relates to technology.

Other potential topics:
1. Awareness and Education: Highlighting the issues that can raise awareness among healthcare institutions and policymakers, prompting actions to mitigate burnout.
2. Research and Evidence: Gathering and presenting research on the links between EHR use and burnout can provide a solid evidence base for developing targeted interventions.
3. Solutions and Best Practices: Sharing successful strategies and best practices from various institutions can help others to implement effective measures.
4. Policy and Advocacy: Analysis of how governmental and institutional health policy contributes to HCW burnout and what policy changes are necessary to mitigate EHR burnout.
5. Impact of EHR Usability on Burnout: Analysis of how EHR design impacts user satisfaction, stress, and burnout levels.
6. Strategies for Mitigating EHR-Induced Burnout: Exploring interventions such as workflow redesign, training programs, and support systems.
7. Comparative Studies of EHR Systems: Evaluating different EHR systems to determine design features associated with lower burnout rates.
8. Psychological and Physical Effects of Burnout: Investigating the broader implications of burnout on HCW health and well-being within the context of the EHR.
9. Role of Leadership in Addressing Burnout: Examining how leadership styles and institutional support can alleviate EHR related burnout.
10. Patient Outcomes and Burnout: Correlating EHR related burnout levels with patient care quality and outcomes.

We will keep the call for this special topic open from September 1 through the end of 2024, and plan to publish papers as they have been accepted in ACI.

Deadlines:
Paper submission due: between 9/1/24 and 1/31/25 (email the AEs if you need an extension)
First notification: Within 2 weeks of submission (if not selected for review). If selected for review, we hope to have reviews for you within 6 weeks of submission.
Revisions due: within 4 weeks of receiving comments from editors and reviewers
Final decision: within 3 weeks of returning your revisions.
Thus, we anticipate that all selections for the special topic edition will be made by 3/31/25.

Associate Editors
The following individuals will be the guest Associate Editors for this call:
● Mark Linzer MD, MACP, Director, Institute for Professional Worklife, Hennepin Healthcare, and University of Minnesota, Minneapolis MN. Mark.Linzer@hcmed.org
● Vallire Hooper, PhD, RN, CPAN, FASPAN, FAAN, Senior Nurse Scientist, Ascension Health, St Louis MO. Vallire.hooper@ascension.org
● Ryan Jelinek, DO, Medical Director of Telemedicine and Access, Program Director, Clinical Informatics Fellowship, Hennepin Healthcare, Minneapolis MN. Ryan.jelinek@hcmed.org
● Philip Kroth MD, MSc, Associate Dean, Health Services Research, Professor and Chair, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Western Michigan University Homer Stryker, M.D. School of Medicine, Kalamazoo MI. Philip.kroth@wmed.edu
Please address all questions to the Associate Editors.

IMPORTANT Instructions
All submission must be titled “Special Topic Burnout: <your actual title here>” without the <>. Manuscripts can be uploaded at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/acij. Instructions for authors can be found at https://lp.thieme.de/open-access-files/174/author_instructions.pdf.